Grain Farmers of Ontario supports MP Ben Lobb and urges all parliamentarians to champion grain farmers
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Guelph, Ontario, Feb. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grain Farmers of Ontario, the province’s largest commodity organization, representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean and wheat farmers, urges all parliamentarians to support Bill C-234 introduced today by Ben Lobb, Member of Parliament for Huron-Bruce, which includes a carbon tax exemption for grain drying. Bill C-234: An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act was introduced into parliament today and once passed will provide relief to farmers who are feeling the impact of the increased tax on their food production. Grain drying is vital in producing grain that is used in food, feed, and other products. Grain Farmers of Ontario has calculated that the carbon tax, which is increasing every year, will cost an average farm an additional $46 per acre in direct drying costs by 2030. On an average 800-acre farm, that’s an increased cost of operations of $36,800. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or
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“Farmers continue to bear the brunt of the carbon tax – both paying the tax for on-farm fuel used for drying grains, and paying the increased costs added to necessary inputs and services as vendors try to recoup carbon costs at their end. This is not supportable for our already vulnerable food system,” said Brendan Byrne, Chair, Grain Farmers of Ontario. “It’s time for all Members of Parliament, regardless of party, to champion food production, keep food costs affordable, and support rural communities and farms by swiftly passing Bill of C-234 through the House of Commons.”
Grain drying is an essential part of the process of harvesting grain. Without it, grain would spoil and could not be used for food, feed, or biofuels. The current carbon tax is a significant increase to the already escalating cost of production faced by grain farmers. The cumulative impact of the carbon tax increases threatens farm sustainability in Ontario. Advertisement
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Ontario grain farmers are consistently looking for ways to improve their environmental impacts including, reduced tillage, cover cropping, and adopting new technology. Over the last 30 years, grain farmers in Ontario have:
   – Reduced their climate impact by 45 per cent (corn production) 
   – Reduced climate impact by 36 per cent (wheat production) 
   – Increased land-use efficiency by 39 per cent (corn production)
   – Increased land efficiency by 37 per cent (wheat production)
   – Reduced energy use by 43 per cent (corn production)
   – Reduced energy use by 37 per cent (wheat production)
Learn more about Grain Farmers of Ontario sustainability initiatives at: https://gfo.ca/market-development/sustainability-for-farmers/
Victoria Berry Grain Farmers of Ontario (226) 820-6641 vberry@gfo.ca Brendan Byrne Grain Farmers of Ontario (519) 991-4027 gfobrendan@gmail.com
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Share this Story: Bill C-234 and Exemption on Carbon Tax for Grain Drying Introduced in Parliament

Bill C-234 and Exemption on Carbon Tax for Grain Drying Introduced in Parliament

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Guelph, Ontario, Feb. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grain Farmers of Ontario, the province’s largest commodity organization representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers, is pleased to announce Hamilton Tiger-Cats President of Football Operations and Head Coach Orlondo “Coach O” Steinauer will be joining the 2022 March Classic speaker lineup. “We are tremendously excited to have two-time Grey Cup champion and Canadian Football League Hall of Famer Coach Steinauer join our incredible March Classic speaker series,” says Victoria Berry, Communications Manager, Grain Farmers of Ontario. “Coach O’s uplifting and motivational presence will be a great addition to the in-person event and one of the many highlights we are looking forward to.”
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Coach Steinauer is set to tackle a presentation around leadership, coaching, and the lessons learned during his 20 years in professional football to date. The great speaker lineup also includes:
The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, leader, author, and former Member of Parliament
The first Canadian live taping of The U.S. Farm Report with host Tyne Morgan
Sonny Perdue, the 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture
Canadian comedian and the Internet’s favourite (unproven) Dad: Stewart “Brittlestar” Reynolds will headline our evening banquet. The 2022 March Classic – Sowing the Seeds of Opportunity, Innovation and Tomorrow, will take place on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at RBC Place in London. The event speakers will be live-streamed for those who are unable to attend in person. Advertisement
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The March Classic has been a premier event for the Grain Farmers of Ontario since 2010. An early bird draw was held and those who registered for the 2022 March Classic before January 31 were eligible. The early bird draw winner of a $150 tool prize pack is Dianne Reesor! Register before February 28 for a chance at our second early bird prize draw. Registration is still open for the 2022 March Classic. Sign up by visiting www.gfo.ca/MarchClassic . To prebook our conference hotel room block at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel until March 14, call (519) 439-1661 and use code “GFO” or book online here . Free parking is available all day on Tuesday, March 22 at the Western Fairgrounds in downtown London. A free bus shuttle will be provided for transport between the parking lot and RBC Place. The shuttle schedule will be available on the March Classic website closer to the event date. Advertisement
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COVID-19 Reminder: Grain Farmers of Ontario places the health and safety of all participants and staff as a priority. The current COVID-19 environment means that Grain Farmers of Ontario will have to be very flexible and may need to adhere to changing requirements with little notice. We will be constantly monitoring requirements and restrictions for changes and act accordingly. In-person attendees must be fully vaccinated and will be required to show proof of full vaccination (QR Code and government-issued identification. To receive your QR code, visit https://covid-19.ontario.ca/get-proof/ ) before entering the event premises. Safe physical distancing and masks indoors may be required for those who attend. Please visit our website for up-to-date information. Victoria Berry Grain Farmers of Ontario (226) 820-6641 vberry@gfo.ca
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As Southwestern Ontario farmers gear up for this year’s growing season, many already are facing their first challenge: soaring fertilizer prices and low supply. Multiple factors, from global supply chain issues to weather, high demand and rising natural gas prices, have driven fertilizer costs to record highs in recent months, prompting concern for many area growers. “Fertilizer prices have gone up dramatically in the last number of months,” doubling and even tripling in some cases, said Crosby Devitt, chief executive of Grain Farmers of Ontario, an organization representing 28,000 Ontario grain growers. “The fact that it’s gone up certainly is causing some concern for farmers as they’re planning and lining up their supplies for this coming spring, which isn’t that far away,” he said. Farmers will begin planting corn and soybean in the spring. Three main nutrients — nitrogen, phosphate, and potash — are critical to producing a healthy crop and boosting yields. Terry Byrne, who farms 650 hectares (1,600 acres) in Essex County with his two brothers, pre-ordered two types of fertilizer he requires for his corn crop last fall. “(We ordered) in November, but we’re not guaranteed the supply on the other end,” Byrne said. “Like, what are we going to do, come planting season and they say, ‘Well, we don’t have the dry fertilizer?’”
Starter dry fertilizer — composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphate and potash — cost Byrne $117 an acre for the 2022 growing season, nearly double the $64 an acre he paid last year. At $221 an acre for anhydrous ammonia fertilizer, Byrne faces a more than 250 per cent increase for this year’s crop. That’s up from the previous $63-an-acre price last year. It’s a similar story for other area farmers, like Kevin Robson, whose family-run farm near Ilderton saw fertilizer prices increase nearly 150 per cent between 2020 and last year. “It’s the highest I’ve ever seen,” Robson said. Fertilizers cost their farm $340 an acre in 2021, compared to the $140 the year prior. They also use manure, which Robson said is their “best choice, but we don’t have enough animals to make up for the grain that we grow.”
Pandemic-caused issues that include supply constraints, strong demand and rising energy prices have helped push costs to record highs, said Philip Shaw, a farmer and agricultural economist. Prices for nitrogen, derived from a process that uses natural gas, are 100 per cent higher, while phosphorus and potash also have increased during the last year, he said. “Large companies that control most of the interest in some of these minerals and some of these fertilizers, (are) simply extracting what the market would bear,” he said. The world’s largest producer of potash, Canada exports fertilizer to more than 75 countries, according to Fertilizer Canada. “Canada’s a major player in the world’s fertilizer marketplace,” said Clyde Graham, executive vice-president of Fertilizer Canada. “But the Canadian fertilizer industry and farmers import fertilizer from the United States, from Russia, the Middle East, North Africa and other places,” he said. Like Shaw, Graham says supply and demand is behind high prices. “At the same time that we have farmers trying to take advantage of grain and oilseed prices by maximizing their production … our industry has disruptions in supply,” he said. “One of our major nitrogen plants in Western Canada has had production problems last fall, and weather-related events have affected phosphate production in the New Orleans area,” a major fertilizer trading hub. Natural gas problems in Europe and halts in the fertilizer production by major exporters like China and Russia have compounded the issue, Graham said. Though a global problem, its impact on farms has been felt locally. “Right now, everything is up in the air,” said Don Ciparis, a corn and soybean grower in Rodney, between London and Chatham. “There is no stability with no guarantee of supply. Some producers have prepaid, but there could be issues with availability.”
Ciparis also is the president of the National Farmers Union-Ontario, a lobby group that is calling for immediate action from the federal government to investigate “all of the factors that contribute to fertilizer pricing in Canada.”
Fertilizer costs at his farm climbed 144 to 220 per cent between April and December last year, he said. For Grain Farmers of Ontario, discussions about how to help farmers are top of mind, Devitt said. Managing risks on farms and boosting financial support for programs to achieve that are priorities he hopes to raise in future meetings with government officials, he said. “We see a real value in the government taking a really good look at those risk-management programs and saying, ‘How can we improve those to give some of that stability to recover, so (growers) will invest in their farm … and not be permanently injured by one year of a real problem like this?’”
Meantime, there’s no clear line of sight to the end of supply chain issues or high prices. “Come spring, nobody knows what the price will do. It might actually drop,” Shaw said. “It seems unlikely at this time, but I’ve seen it before.”
cleon@postmedia.com
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Skyrocketing fertilizer prices worry farmers as they plan for spring

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GUELPH, ON, Jan. 10, 2022 /CNW/ - Canadians interested in learning more about how their food is produced have more opportunities available to them now at www.FarmFood360.ca . Four new Virtual Reality Tours, filmed throughout 2021 on mushroom, veal and grain farms – and research facilities operated by the University of Guelph – have been added to the popular website, joining the 18 farm and food processing tours already filmed and available for viewing. The tours were developed by Farm & Food Care Ontario (FFCO) in partnership with Good in Every Grain, Mushrooms Canada, Ontario Genomics and Veal Farmers of Ontario. Using 360 cameras and virtual reality technology, the award-winning FarmFood360° website gives Canadians the chance to tour real, working farms and food processing plants, all without putting on boots or biosecurity clothing. The mushroom farm tour visits a family-owned facility growing four million pounds of mushrooms each year. Farm owner Murray Good partnered with FFCO and Mushrooms Canada for the project. Said Good, "For many people, mushrooms are rather mysterious. I've always enjoyed hosting tours, as people are incredibly fascinated to learn about how fresh local mushrooms are grown. Growing mushrooms is one part science and one part art! As with many other farms during this time, we haven't been able to offer in-person tours, which is why I was thrilled by the idea of hosting a virtual farm tour." The second tour takes people through the barns of an Ontario veal farm. In the tour, the farm family shows how their veal cattle are fed and cared for. Jennifer Haley, Executive Director of Veal Farmers of Ontario, said, "Veal farming has a long history and plays an important and fundamental role in Canada's agricultural sector; however, the industry can be the subject of misconceptions and questions by our consumers." She added, "We're delighted to partner with FFCO to open the doors to an Ontario veal farm and answer those questions directly. Our farmers are proud of their farms and animal care standards and we're eager to show that." A grain farm tour filmed in southwestern Ontario follows soybeans from planting through to harvest. "Grain farming in Ontario is challenging and rewarding. We are excited to work with FFCO to bring this project to fruition. Engaging video like this will help everyone feel like they are getting their boots on the ground and to see what happens in the fields of a soybean farm during spring planting, spraying and harvest; as well as all of the work that goes into making important crop care decisions," said Victoria Berry, manager, communications at Grain Farmers of Ontario. In an interesting shift from the more traditional farm and food processing tours on the site, Ontario Genomics partnered on a tour that highlights the exciting and emerging field of genomic research in agriculture. Through a tour of a world class dairy research facility and interviews with research scientists at both Trent University and the University of Guelph, the project highlights research being done to increase food production, reduce stress on livestock thus improving animal welfare and improve the heartiness of crops like hazelnuts so that they can be grown in a cold Canadian climate. Dr. Christine Baes, a dairy cow researcher at the University of Guelph who participated in the project said, "Genomics, which is the study of DNA, plays a key role in scientific discovery and technology innovation. As we've seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it can also help address some of our most pressing challenges. In this video series we explore how genomics is being used to ensure Ontario and Canada have a secure food system for generations to come, while protecting our environment and constantly improving animal welfare." The project was also funded, in part, through the AgriCompetitiveness program of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal, provincial, territorial initiative. In 2021, the website received one million visitors. A new educator resource is in development by Agriculture in the Classroom Canada and will be live in February, 2022, providing curriculum-based classroom activities for each tour. Farm & Food Care Ontario is a coalition of farmers, agriculture and food partners proactively working together to earn public trust and confidence in food and farming. Find out more at www.FarmFood360.ca or www.FarmFoodCareON.org . Good in Every Grain is Grain Farmers of Ontario's public outreach campaign devoted to gaining awareness for Ontario grains. The goal of the campaign is to gain exposure for Ontario farmers, the grains they grow, and the role that grains play in the everyday lives of Ontarians. Good in Every Grain was developed to tell the story of Ontario's grain farmers to consumers across the province. Visit www.goodineverygrain.ca  
Mushrooms Canada is a voluntary, non-profit organization whose members are dedicated to the production and marketing of fresh mushrooms in Canada. Canadian mushrooms are available 24/7/365 fresh from Canadian farms. Visit www.mushrooms.ca
Ontario Genomics is a not-for-profit organization funded by the Ontario government and Genome Canada. Established in 2000, Ontario Genomics is the only entity focused solely on stimulating, enabling and nurturing genomics innovation in the province of Ontario. Visit www.OntarioGenomics.ca
Veal Farmers of Ontario is a farmer-run organization that represents the interests of Ontario's veal farmers, providing leadership to promote industry growth and viability through collaboration, innovation, marketing, and education. Visit www.vealfarmers.ca
SOURCE Farm & Food Care Ontario
For further information: Kelly Daynard, Executive Director, Farm & Food Care Ontario, [email protected] , 519-837-1326, ext. 224; Victoria Berry, Manager, Communications, Grain Farmers of Ontario, 226-820-6641, [email protected] ; Marianne Muth, Project Coordinator, Mushrooms Canada, [email protected] , 519-510-8888; Polina Martins, Director of Communications, Ontario Genomics, [email protected] ; Jennifer Bullock, Communications Manager, Veal Farmers of Ontario, [email protected] , 519-824-2942
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FarmFood360° VR Experience - Four new Virtual Reality tours open doors to mushroom, veal, grain farms and research faci...

Bioenterprise Corporation is a Canadian, agri-tech accelerator. The organization supports agri-technology, sustainable and environmental technologies, advanced manufacturing, and social innovation industries.

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Guelph ON , 14 April 2021 : Grain Farmers of Ontario and Bioenterprise , Canada 's Food & Agri-Tech Engine , have joined forces to help grow strong agriculture and food businesses in Ontario .

Bioenterprise and Grain Farmers of Ontario sign MOU.
Strategic partnership to boost food and agri-tech innovation for grain industry

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University of Guelph

Canopy International

Marcam Solutions

Grain Farmers of Ontario is a commodity organization that represents barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers. It is based in Guleph, Ontario.

Name	Work History	Title	Status
Crosby Devitt	University of Guelph	Chief Executive Officer	Current
Tom Farfaras	Canopy International, and Marcam Solutions	Chief Financial Officer	Current

Name	Crosby Devitt	Tom Farfaras
Work History	University of Guelph	Canopy International, and Marcam Solutions
Title	Chief Executive Officer	Chief Financial Officer
Status	Current	Current

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